Glee Recap: Feeling Underappreciated

Glee‘s Tuesday night return was like a pile of salt water taffies: Sweet, inoffensive, and enjoyable enough, but not exactly a full-fledged meal. Indeed, the one-hour run-up to next week’s Gaga Extravaganza mostly served as a means to tie up some loose plot threads, possibly set up another inexplicable story arc for Terri Schuester, and give Mercedes a moment in the spotlight (not an encore performance of “Hell to the No,” though that needs to happen by season’s end, yes?). Let’s do a quick rundown on how things played out:

* Thanks to Sue’s redirection of McKinley extracurricular funding into offshore accounts in the Cayman Islands, glee club was short on cash for its trip to New York City for Nationals; plus, Mike, Tina, Artie, and Brittany’s academic team needed a whopping $250 to finish its championship season in Detroit. But Mr. Schue had a plan, and a rudimentary math lesson, too. Q: If New Directions and the Brainiacs need a combined $5,250, and decide to sell 25-cent salt water taffy in the halls of McKinley High, how many pieces of candy do they need to move? A: Irrelevant! Indeed, Will’s main squeeze Holly Holliday wanted her man to dream bigger, and proposed a benefit concert — A Night of Neglect — in which the music of overlooked artists would raise money for McKinley’s overlooked clubs. And just like that, a plot was born.

* Sue, meanwhile, desperate to return to power and thwart Will’s recent string of successes, took a break from “bow-hunting for hobos” — seriously, writers? — and recruited a team to help do her bidding: Vocal Adrenaline coach Dustin Goolsby (aka Sergeant Handsome) to drive a wedge between Holly and Schue; deposed McKinley glee director Sandy Ryerson (The Pink Dagger) to sabotage New Directions’ performances with hecklers; and Terri (aka The Honey Badger) to carry out some yet-to-be-explained nefariousness against the glee kids and continue her bedbug-esque reign of unwelcome in the Glee universe. I’m not really sure why the show’s writers continue to drag Sue (and Emmy winner Jane Lynch) down the cartoon train tracks to Absurdville — somehow a violent, homicidal Sue is less fun than the one who lived to shoot poisonously funny verbal arrows back in the day — but I’ll cop to a couple of laughs during the recruitment scene: Sandy excusing his inappropriate lusting for heterosexual Dustin with this zinger — “You’re hunky and I’m what they call ‘predatory gay'” and Holly being described as “looser than a thrift store turtleneck and probably just as diseased.”

Naturally, Sue’s minions got thwarted by those crazy kids. Dustin tried and failed to seduce Holly and poison the well against Will by pointing out that his tiny baby hands can’t even pick up a Big Mac, while Sandy fell victim to his love of the arts — and in particular Aretha’s “Aint No Way” — and ended up personally providing funding for both New Directions’ and Brainiacs’ trips.

* The Night of Neglect itself required the kind of suspension of disbelief usually reserved for, say, Arnold Schwarzenegger action films. New Directions rival (and onetime McKinley student) Sunshine Corazon signed up for the show and promised to recruit her 600 Twitter followers to attend, which seemed like nothing more than a flimsy excuse to insert a musical number by Filipino singing sensation Charice. Once Goolsby forced Sunshine to pull out of the lineup, though, the Night of Neglect audience shrank to Kurt and Blaine, plus Sandy and his three-person heckling squad. (Because, apparently, Finn’s super-supportive mom and stepdad, Rachel’s gay dads, and not a single parental unit bought a ticket for the benefit concert.) Oh, and somehow Aretha Franklin wound up on the list of “neglected” artists. Not to kvetch, but wasn’t there a single member of the Glee writing squad who could’ve taken a moment to boost the fortunes of an under-the-radar diva by showcasing one of her tunes — think Kina’s “Girl from the Gutter” or Allison Iraheta’s “Scars” or Lina’s “It’s Alright,” for example — as Mercedes’ show-stopper?

* Speaking of Mercedes, New Directions’ perpetual No. 2 songbird got herself a manager in the form of Lauren Zizes, and decided to demand r.e.s.p.e.c.t. through a variety of increasingly ridiculous demands. I’m not really sure I bought this shift in Mercedes’ life philosophy, but I’ll admit I chuckled at the thought of Puck seeking the perfect pomeranian on which Mercedes could dry her freshly washed hands. Even funnier was Mercedes’ demand that New Directions not allow her feet to touch the ground on performance night, followed by a litany of singers who’ve made a habit of riding their minions’ shoulders to success. Gaga at the Grammys? “Carried the hell in!” Of course, in the end, it came down to Mercedes fleeing the scene of the benefit, and having a heart-to-heart with Rachel about her hurt feelings. “Why are you a bigger star than me?” she asked, in the episode’s most heartfelt moment. Rachel decided to give up the closing number and let her friend be top glee dog for a change — although neither one of them pointed out that New Directions typically has bigger audiences for its rehearsals.

* We got a brief moment in which Karofsky attempted to threaten a visiting Kurt and Blaine — only to get stopped by McKinley’s remaining bisexual student, Santana, who gave the hulking brute a choice between which of his “nuts” he wanted cracked. I liked seeing Santana use her patented brand of tough-girl bitchery for good, not evil, for a change, and kinda hope the writers explore a Kurt-Santana or Blaine-Santana conspiratorial friendship going forward.

* And finally, we got the news that Carl had left Emma — and asked for an annulment of their un-consummated marriage. (That’s really all the John Stamos we’re getting?) Somehow this led to a sweet and yet utterly serial-killer-creepy moment of Will donning latex gloves and polishing Emma’s lunchtime grapes for her, a moment that Holly inconveniently happened to witness from afar.

* Will’s unresolved issues with Emma — and the fact that Gwyneth Paltrow probably isn’t ready to commit to a full-time TV gig — led Holly to accept a four-month teaching gig in Cleveland, but not before giving the heckling team a lesson on internet bullying (zzzzz) and giving Will the okay to pursue Emma. “You’re in love with somebody else, and thanks to my counseling, she’s available now,” Holly sighed. I know the Will-Emma romance is the one we’re probably supposed to be rooting for, but I liked how Holly’s lack of worshipful longing helped make Mr. Schue less annoying. Here’s hoping that if McKinley’s Spanish teacher is serious about pursuing the stylish guidance counselor, he ends up getting her best empowered self, and not her damaged, mewling kitten persona.

* And finally, did anyone else notice the homages on the nameplates of the Brainiacs’ Detroit Smarty Pants competitors? “L. Dobler,” “G. LaChance,” and “Travis Strong,” might have been references to Say Anything, Stand By Me, and something called Radio Free Roscoe, but if you’ve got any theories on the origins of “D. Lightman,” do share in the comments!

And before we get to the letter grades for this week’s performances, let’s recap the best Brittany line of the night: “I love salt water.” And now, without further ado…

“All By Myself,” Sunshine Corazon | Please tell me I’m not the only one who was intermittently distracted by Sunshine’s wretched combo of floral miniskirt, striped shirt, frilly navy jacket, and unfortunate kneesocks (not a short girl’s best friend). That aside, while I still can’t comprehend what Sunshine was doing in the auditorium in the first place, there’s no denying the impressive horsepower of Charice’s much-ballyhooed instrument. Musical grade: B+ Relevance to the plot: C

Lykke Li’s “I Follow Rivers,” Tina | Why is it that every time Tina sings — remember her sobbing “My Funny Valentine” — things end weirdly? I wish we’d gotten a little more vocal and a little less booing in an episode about the club’s underappreciated talents. Musical grade: B- Relevance to the plot: B

Adele’s “Turning Tables,” Holly Holliday | I can’t deny Gwyneth’s got a lovely singing voice. Better still, she never takes her vocal to a place of showy extremes or vibrato nightmares, understanding that there’s beauty in the understated. Musical grade: A- Relevance to the plot: B

Aretha Franklin’s “Ain’t No Way,” Mercedes | Sandy Ryerson was right — the song itself is kind of unbeatable. And Riley’s gut-busting performance — with full gospel chorus — was fantastic. I could quibble that there were three times as many people on stage as there were in the audience, but why go there? Bonus points for the guinea fowl-feather headpiece. Hot! Musical grade: A- Relevance to the plot: A-

What did you think of this week’s Glee? What were your favorite moments, musical and otherwise? Sound off below, and for all my TV recaps, follow me on Twitter @MichaelSlezakTV.

This episode was weak and it didn’t really have a lot of plot, it just kind of stumbled along. RFR, is a canadian tv show about a an alternative radio station and the four friends who are Djs for it…its a good show.

Completely agree. This was a terrible episode. Ballad after ballad sung by female soloists. It was slow and boring and one of their worst. At least typically the episodes that are weak in plot are bolstered by the songs. This was just flat all around.

After first fifteen mins it was boring….my 14year old who normally loves this show, tuned out, turned off.. recent episodes are missing the mark somehow…think the focus now is more on selling on I tunes then plot lines.

One of the worst hours of television I have seen all year. Not really sure what this show was trying to accomplish, but there were so many unneccesary, jumbled and absurd plotlines that the episode was an epic fail.

I waited three weeks for this? How can they give us the ice cream sundae of “Original Songs,” then this bowl of stinky peas?
A list of suckage:
1) 5000 x 0.25 = 20,000? For serious? How long was that sitting on the white board? Not ONE cast or crew member was like, “Hey, wait a second, guys…” at any point??
2) Even IF I continue to accept the ridiculous premise that the Glee kids are lepers at McInley and no other students would actually show up to the show, here’s who still would have ACTUALLY been in the audience:
– 12 members of Glee x 2-4 family members each
– their FRIENDS
– how about friends and family of the roughly 40 musicians and choir members also on stage??
– Teachers of McKinley and their families
3) I don’t get what’s so great about Charice. Yeah, she can sing. Acting is terrible.
4) A bunch of boring ballad solos? Yawn.
The only parts I liked were Blaine showing up to shove Karofsky around (Santana was pretty sweet too with her razor-blade hair) and the Brainiacs competitions: so great that Brittany knows about cat diseases; loved Artie’s grin when “White Rappers” popped up, and the look he and Brittany shared at “Hermaphrodite Nazi Sympathizers”. Otherwise, blah.

I agree with your comments exactly but add
5) The Warblers should also have been in the audience (if Blaine went, he probably could have convinced his classmates to go to).

The most ridiculous part (and I usually overlook this show’s over the top stuff) was the gospel choir. Did Mercedes bring them from her church or do they just keep the gospel choir in the closet at the school(much like the numerous musicians that seem to appear out of nowhere)?

Totally agree, I really wanted to know where Holly’s full orchestra and Mercedes’ full gospel choir came from! The Glee Club can’t afford a trip to nationals, but they can afford a choir and an orchestra? Anyway I don’t think this episode was as bad as some people are making it out to be. I mean, it wasn’t very plot-advancing or believable, but I thought it was entertaining and harmless enough. Some good zingers from Santana and I loved all the music. But clearly I’m alone in my enjoyment of this episode so I’ll just stay…wait for it…”All By Myself” on this topic. :P

I think we are supposed to be amused by the clearly WRONG math work on the board. This is Glee…it’s not supposed to make sense. I laughed my head off at the white board because it is EXACTLY what a math stooge (like me) would do + it’s funny and so far off the mark that it’s meant to be a joke.

I completely agree with both of you. I would just like to say that maybe the math problem was supposed to be a joke.
The lack of audience could have been easily and hilariously explained away as a result of Sue’s interference (or even Terri), but to leave it as it was = lazy writing.
I’m just really annoyed that we’re entering the final stretch of the second season and we still haven’t met Rachel’s and Brit’s parents.

I really don’t think the math was a joke. All it would have taken was one shot of say Tina giving a “Huh?” look, but there was nothing to suggest a joke at all. If they were joking, that is really poor writing/directing/editing.

Since people seem to be taking this really seriously, just thought I’d mention that the math is right. If you need $5000 and sell taffy for 25 cents, you DO need to sell 20,000 pieces. True, when you write it as 5000 x .25, you don’t get that answer but 20 000 is the right answer.

20,000 pieces was the right answer to the fundraising needs, BUT not the correct answer to the equation on the whiteboard. Why not have one of the brainiacs point out that it needed a division symbol instead? This may not seem like a big deal, but why not encourage correct math to the myriads of kids watching?
I loved your comments, JayK.

Twenty bucks says Santana figures out Karofsky’s secret considering she’s kinda going through the same thing AND she’s the queen of reading between the lines (see: observing Quinn’s and Finn’s hooking up just by gauging the looks on their faces). I’m totally loving on the idea of Santana and Kurt becoming Mckinley’s Power Gays.

I think Santana is going to find out Karvosky kissed Kurt then blackmail him into leaving Kurt alone. But I would like to see Blaine get a good punch in first. I think a Kurt and Santana friendship would be awesome and good for both of them (especially Santana.) I LOVED when Santana said she had a bunch of razors in her hair.

Agree with most comments this episode was soo boring for me and I am so sick of Sue’s story line after the punch at the end of the last episode and now this desperate attempt at the league of doom or whatever just makes me sad Jane Lynch won an Emmy atleast give her something else…oh and can Mercedes have some other storyline than always being #2 to Rachel how about a love interest atleast. Glad gwenyth paltrow is gone for now atleast,

The Adele song should have been sung by Santana to Brittany. Her voice suits it better and the lyrics are PERFECT for her situation, not to mention if she sang it, it would have had relevance to the story line. They kind of left the whole Brittany/Santana thing alone which is confusing and instead gave the perfect song for Santana to Holly who used it to portray a message to Will that i don’t really get? Their focusing too much on mr schue and not enough on the kids, who glee club is really about!

I was really hoping after a month away, given how they left the story, we’d see more movement in the Finchel storyline. Finn and Quinn are together, but don’t really seem to care to be. Same with the Brittana SL. I was hoping for something more fulfilling there given how it was left.

I am downright weary of the notion that the Glee club would be such pariahs. Seriously, the show choir at my school in the 90s were hardly the “cool kids,” but people still went to their shows, which almost always got you out of class, and would ahve gone to a concert like this because it is something to do. These kids are in Ohio, they do NOT have anything better to do.

And I have to agree with everyone else that the notion that NO ONE would go to this concert is absolutely ridiculous. Everyone’s parents would go, and any other local relatives. Mercedes belongs to a fairly close-knit church, considering they lent her the choir for the night, and they would all go. All of the Warblers would have gone. And yes, all the other teachers would have gone. For god’s sakes.

Glee requires belief suspension all the time, but this one just bugged me to no end.

I completely agree with this. I felt like they asked us to suspend TOO much disbelief by having a completely empty audience. Parents generally don’t miss things like this. There are like 15 kids in Glee so that’s easily 20 – 30 parents plus any younger brothers & sisters. I can’t see all of the teachers missing a concert like this – you mean to tell me neither Emma nor Coach Beiste bought a ticket? This was wayy too farfetched.

Am I the only one who is completely tired of all the “Will” drama? And please, someone tell me where else in the world a teacher/coach could act like Sue, and not lose her job/be arrested? I don’t mind suspending belief a little, but the Sue character has really become cartoonish. And I thought Glee was supposed to be about students, not some creepy teacher who sings inappropriate songs to them?

I completely agree with your comments about Sue. Not only does she do horrible things at school, but she punched the Mayor’s wife and was not arrested on the spot? C’mon, writers! There is nothing funny about her behavior anymore; she has become completely ridiculous. Poor Jane Lynch. This is how they reward her for that Emmy win? Wow.

What a lame episode. I can’t believe we had to wait three weeks for that. Especially coming after what I felt was the best episode of the season. I mean come on. I am usually willing to suspend belief for the show, it is a musical afterall, but to have no parents at the concert and to have Sunshine want to help. What a load of crap. That said, I am still looking forward to seeing how the season pans out.

Boring! I can’t believe that’s what I was excited about seeing last night.

I liked Mercedes and Rachael bonding moments. Rachael is best when trying to get everyone to get along so she can sing. :) I think they should have done something so it looked like Sue kept everyone from coming… like a big cancelled sign … to explain why the parents weren’t there. Just odd no support from anyone? Sue is your best explanation and you didn’t use it.

I think that for an episode about under appreciation they should’ve introduced us to the band (/all the kids who constantly help these singers and never get the spotlight). Also where was everyone’s parents? Surely the family of all the tons of people in the sohw would have turned up…

Harry’s inclusion of the mop was a nod to this famous dance by Gene Kelly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlkrN4DXvO0 it wasn’t just a random choice. Also that bit with him behind the wall seemed like a nod to the great Danny Kaye. Really great. I thought the dance number was the best part of Tuesday’s episode. I’ve been waiting to see Harry’s great talent highlighted more.

yes i am glad someone else noticed these nods to classic dance numbers. i loved harry’s number, it even made me appreciate that song more. i love when they do those classic old school dance numbers, like the one mr. schue and mike chang did to “make ’em laugh” in the episode where schue gets sick (the substitute).

So glad you mentioned that no parents bothered to show up to the benefit. There was also an orchestra of kids that accompanied the singers, and none of their parents bothered to show up either. Not to mention that we are lead to believe that none of Charices’s twitter fans pre-bought their tickets? Lame, lame lame!!!

I’m glad they acknowledged that Mercedes is vastly underappreciated, but too bad it probably won’t change in the future. And yeah, I watched with my parents who came to every event my sister and I had at school no matter what and the first comment we all had was “Where are their parents?!” I could buy a small crowd, but I was not believing that NO ONE came. Good thing to come out of this episode: No more Holly!

Seeing these talented young actors sing (or dance) their hearts out is always a treat, but I’m not sure why people are ignoring the obvious, which is that the writing for this show is awful, and shallow as a puddle. It doesn’t make sense, there’s little consistency between episodes, characterization is all over the place. Plotlines are introduced, and then ignored. And its so preachy! I’m trying to keep with this, but the writing makes it so hard.

Ok episode – not great. Sick of Sue and really would like to see more Beastie!
Sunshine didn’t make sense and felt way too contrived. In the disbelief department – no parents, teachers, spouses or friends of ANYONE – including choir, orchestra and others… seriously? Hate to see Holly’s character go – loved the speech about dreaming big and I think she and Emma could be an interesting dynamic as friends. I agree on Allison Iraheta’s song Scar – love her and that song. Loved Brittany as the savior to the Brainiacs… I really wouldn’t miss Sue at all.

this weeks episode was a total let down… yet again Rachel is bullied and picked on, made out to be the bad guy while she’s the one who saves the day, please stop with this torture already!

Finchel should die, its so LAME! Please, this is not the kind of high school relationship that should be highlighted, its kind of abusive and really negative for Rachel’s character development.

Santana was actually written likable for this episode, besides Rachel Berry she was the only shinning point in the episode.

And as far as Mercedes being unappreciated, I think they need to look up that word, she’s a DIVA, always putting Rachel down and voicing her disapproval and demanding the spotlight, who wrote this episode, did they give it to someone else, there was no character consistency other than Rachel Berry.

Also please stop with the guest stars, they take away from the regular cast, who a lot of us tune into to see every week.

If this were the first episode I’d ever seen, I would never watch it again. The lack of parents/friends in the audience was way too much suspension of disbelief, and Sue is so over the top that there’s not even any humor in it. I don’t know anyone who actually likes Teri – why do they insist on finding a plot for her? And the Mercedes diva thing was silly too. If anyone acted like that in real life, they’d be bumped from the show. They probably spent more than $250 (the amount the Brainiacs needed) on green M&Ms and humidifiers! I love Stephen Tobolowsky (Sandy Ryerson), and I’m glad he redeemed himself at the end, and it’s always nice to see Kurt and Blaine, but I didn’t find much else to like about the episode.

I get that we’re supposed to suspend reality when we watch this show, but the problem with a show where there are outrageous storylines and no character development is that eventually we stop caring about the characters. I loved the idea of this show in the eginning, but it’s become so outrageous to the point where it often doesn’t even make sense, that it’s just lost me. We arely know these people outside the auditorium. Who are Mercedes family? Why wis PUck a bad boy? Why is Artie in a wheelchair (or did I miss that explanation?) It seems like the plot (for lack of a etter word) and dialogue is just there to provide a bridge to the next song Let me say I adore the songs and singers here, ut, it’s not enough to keep me watching an otherwise boring show with characters I don’t care about anymore. I’ll watch GAGA show… then that’s the end for me. Sadly.

I’m basically over this show. I was to the point where I was simply tuning in for the awesome music, but last night’s episode was such a snoozer I now have NO reason to watch. Hey writers, remember when Quinn had a baby last season? You don’t? Well I do. Get it together!!!

I will say this though… At least last night’s episode wasn’t another “Rachel and the Warblers Show” kind of episode.

At first I thought Lauren was funny, but lately she’s been getting on my nerves. Mercedes has always been one to invite people in on the fabulous. But Lauren kind of turned her into a twit and then almost seemed to enjoy Mercedes being obnoxious to everyone. I wouldn’t mind seeing less of Lauren, or at least develop that character more so she’s not so unlikable.

Wow… Kina’s “Girl from the Gutter”. Haven’t thought about that song in ages! Now that song might have kept me from fast forwarding through 90% of this episode. I wish Glee would create and stick to a normal, non-inflammatory storyline. Stop with all the guest stars and themes and focus on some character development. The show is just turning into one big gimmick.

I just wanted to say something about the dancing with a mop. That was an homage to Gene Kelly. he danced with a mop rather like that in the film Thousands Cheer. It was a famous musical moment and one of the many things that he contributed to film choreography. He was always trying new things and changed the way that musical choreography was done on film.

Worst Glee episode yet… it was just too stupid. Its one thing to have “unique” characters on a show, or to be asked to suspend disbelief regarding stuff surrounding the actual performances, cause thats needed, but right now nothing is making any sense anymore…

They won’t let go of anyone. Charice is awesome, but SHE’S NOT ON THIS SHOW. Some people think Gwyneth can sing (not me so much), but SHE’S NOT ON THIS SHOW. Mike Chang is a secondary character. He’s really NOT ON THIS SHOW.

Kurt left school. He probably shouldn’t be on the show anymore, and it makes no sense to have him keep showing up. Jessilyn Gilsig is great, but go away already.

The love affair with Lauren? What’s the point? Is Chord Overstreet still on the show?

Memo to Glee brass: We like your original cast, and we like Santana, Brittany, and Sam. Can’t you make up episodes using THEM? How can there not be enough story lines to make them deeper characters than what they’ve been allowed to be?

You really shouldn’t let a show go by without using Rachel, Finn, Artie, Quinn, Santana, Brittany, Puck, Sam, Mr. Schue or Kurt in a song. You just shouldn’t. And last night that’s what you did.

I don’t think Gwyneth actually has the vocal prowess to go to “showy extremes or vibrato (nightmares).” She has a nice voice, but it’s one more suited to impressing people at karaoke rather than releasing any singles. Now Mercedes, on the other hand… that performance of “Ain’t No Way” was a vocal and performance masterclass.

@sarah there reason is at the end of journey season finale of s1 rachel’s mom the former coach (dan aka sgt handsome is her replacement) of vocal adrenaline adopted beth (puck/quinn’s daughter) and moved away basically killing five plotholes with one stone racheal mention’s this during original song right before quinn gives her the “inspiration” so to speak to pen get it right….it’s mentioned in passing multiple times but that’s the most recent and blatant of the references

have you not seen country strong not a big fan of modern country but it reminds me of g.o.p. girl’s got pipes but she’s suppose to cut a record so we’ll see also how did the song she sang not have relevance she basically saying that shes not the type of girl who stay for guy who love you in the daytime(relationships) rather than a guy who only wants you in the night (sex nsa whatever)

Let’s be honest, the main thing that is killing Glee overall is the writing. The story arc (or lack thereof), plot devices & character development is just horrid. Last night’s episode was a perfect example of what happens when Glee solely relies on songs, performances & memorable quotes. I’m going to give it until Kristen Chenoweth’s episode because she always seems to set things back on track but if it’s bad after that, I’m jumping ship.

I hadn’t caught the RFR reference. So cool!
Overall, I didn’t think this episode was that good. It certainly wasn’t terrible, but there have been way better episodes. And when is Tina finally going to get to sing a full song??

I don’t understand why people feel the need to post hateful musings about tv shows. If you don’t like the show, don’t watch it. Why do you watch a show you hate, read a recap about a show you hate, and then comment on that recap about how much you hate the show?! Do something better with your time.